Happy birthday to you, happy birthday day to you, happy birthday to Firefoxxxxx. Happyy birthday to you!! Okay, your fifth birthday was actually on Monday; I’m late. Sorry. As a belated gift, I will continue to use you for the foreseeable future as my primary web browser. That is until something better comes out – Google’s Chrome is supposed to come out before Christmas on the Mac.

Can’t believe Firefox is five. Here is my journey. In early 2006 I only knew of Internet Explorer as the main web browser. In Spring 2006, I jumped onto Firefox on the recommendation from a close friend. He was using the fox and was zipping about the web, adding extensions and opening windows in TABS. Firefox was the only browser on the block to have tabbed browsing at the time. It changed the way I browsed. I never looked back. IE was archaic compared to FF.  At the end of August 2007, I bought a MacBook. With OS X 10.4 came Safari. Safa-what? I need my FF was what I thought. FF was slow as hell on my MB. It hoggged RAM like no other, spiked the CPU, heated up the computer…it was nightmare. I eloped with Safari. When Firefox 3.0 was set to go down on June 30, 2008, featuring major RAM reductions and faster page rendering, I joined the millions of people worldwide in downloading it on day one to help set the world record. Indeed, it was much improved. I abandoned Safari and switched back to the fox. I’ve been using FF 3.5 as my main browser ever since.

Whew. That was a mouthful wasn’t it? Even with Safari’s 4.0 being snappy, I can’t live without the plug-ins/extensions that can be installed for FF. Take one plug-in called “Ad-Block Plus.” It blocks advertisements on all web pages. I installed it earlier this year and I haven’t seen an advertisement on the web ever since. No wonder I’ve been so much more productive this past year!

Firefox is an open-source web browser. Because the code is not locked in a closet somewhere sealed beneath 10 layers bullet proof glass, anyone who wants to modify it to their liking can do so. Customization is key for a useful FF experience. No two installations of FF will be the same if each one is customized to the individual.

Here’s to many more years of Firefox! As a bonus, let’s see if the majority of people even know what a browser is.

Google’s Chrome will bring some competition to the web browser arena. It is already my web browser of choice on a Windows machine. The beauty of Chrome lies in the small application size, stripped down interface and FAST FAST page rendering like no other. Chrome is already for Windows and is expected to be released before Christmas on the Mac. Can’t wait!

Final Fantasy III/VI

I’ve been thinking a long time about how to write this review.  It’s never easy writing about epic games.  It’s easy to shit all over crappy games.  Their flaws are obvious and sufficient material for a post.  But Final Fantasy VI…

There are several things that make a game great, and some of these are typically embedded in reviews: music, sound, gameplay, controls, fun factor, graphics, plot, replay value, etc.  But these things alone, even all done perfectly, do not predict an epic game.  The one factor that is required for an epic game that cannot be crafted is timing.  An epic game has to be released at a time when an entire genre is forming, and it’s at the forefront, pioneering it.  Doing it intentionally is like trying to predict the rise of Microsoft before the fact.  There are certain timing factors, the contemporary culture, the minds of the artists of the era, and the minds of the audience, that all have to be in sync.  It is for these reasons that the Matrix was amazing, and its sequels failed. The timing was lost.

If we compare the psyche of Vicks and Wedge, we see that in fact they are a commentary on the human condition. Nietzsche said that life was... You know what? Fuck that. You can dig forever and never hit the bottom in this game. If that's all you do in your review, you're missing the point.

Instead of dissecting the game, and reading its guts to you like an English teacher with Shakespeare, I’m going to try a different approach.  I’m going to tell you a story, a story about the timing of Final Fantasy VI in my life, and the resulting effect it had on me.  I imagine that if I were to crowdsource this story, many other, similar stories would emerge.  Collectively, these stories tell the true tale of why many believe Final Fantasy VI is the greatest game ever written.

I was 13 years old.  My cousin was visiting.  His parents were a lot more comfortable with video games than mine were.  Games weren’t the bane of the world’s existence, and a threat to homework and success.  As such, he was allowed to have a SNES (I was not), and he brought it with him.  He also brought along a stack of games, and this new game he had just purchased for over $100 (Around $200 in today’s money).  We played some Street Fighter II, and some Contra III, and some other fun two-player games for a couple of days.  On the last evening he was here, we decided to try out this other game he had with him, Final Fantasy III.  He told me that he had played it a bit and that it was rather long.  It was the perfect choice for that night.  He had a history of getting sick during long car rides, and the 8 hour drive planned for the next day was looming.  He figured the best way to not get sick was to sleep through the whole car ride, and the best way to do that was to stay up all night playing FFIII with me.  I happily obliged.

We brought a couple of comfortable chairs up to the TV, dropped in  the cartridge, loaded up on snack food and pop, and hit the power switch.  This haunting, operatic music gripped me suddenly, and latched my focus to the screen.  I sat back and watched, transfixed as the intro played itself out on the screen.  I was without words.  Saliva dripped from my fallen jaw onto the carpet in front of me.  I… I had to see what happened next.  The movie segued directly into the gameplay, seamlessly.  Suddenly, the plot was unfolding, and I was clicking through dialog, eating it up.  The soldiers were controlling this blue haired girl, in some sort of mecha.  Why?  What did she do to them?  Why were they so mean?

Credits at the beginning? I soon understood why. So beautiful... enchanting...

And then they turned, and began walking through the drifts of snow in 3D.  The haunting, magical Terra theme played over the credits, and I realised that this wasn’t a game.  This was a piece of art, with proud creators who deserved to have their names seen at the beginning, in case the impatient, impulsive North American audience didn’t have the attention span to make it to the end of their work.  This instant marked a very important milestone in my lifelong love of gaming.  It was the instant that I realised that games were no longer progressively more complicated versions of pong, without any purpose other than to sustain one’s attention for a few minutes.  It was at this moment that I realised that games were a medium for storytelling, like books, movies, graphic novels, plays.  It was at this moment that the acceptance bar for games suddenly jumped up.  Square had set a new standard.  And I had seen only the tip of the iceberg.

I lost track of time… The next time I looked at the clock, it was nearly 6AM.  I had been devoured whole by a world of bum rushes, and tek missiles, and moggles, and Atma weapons.  I had shed a tear for Celes’ ill treatment at the hands of the evil emperor, marking another first: the first time I ever truly felt empathy, and a connection to a video game character.  My party had grown with character after character, each with a tale, each with substance, and purpose.  I had read more plot, on the screen, than I had read in paper books in the past year.  I had forgotten to blink – my eyes were drying out.

Damn you, Kefka! I won't let you win!

When it came time for my cousin to leave, I could barely tear myself away from the game.  What would happen to Terra? Locke? Celes? Relm? Gau?  Where would their adventures take them?  Was the world really going to get destroyed by misuse of Magitek?  My cousin departed, and I was left in withdrawal.  I had a new mission in life: acquire a SNES and a copy of FFVI at any cost.  And, when I eventually did, I spent many, many, many hours glued to the TV in my room.  I’m sure I spent no less than 200 hours on the game, which, for that era, was an eternity.  I can still hear Kefka’s teasing, insane laughter.  I can still remember the elation when Terra first learned how to cast Ultima.  I still, to this day, giggle at the thought of combining the Genji Glove, with the Offering, with two Atma weapons, raining down destruction on my party’s foes.

OMG - Espers! SO KOOL! WANT!

Final Fantasy 6 came along at just the right time to inspire the emerging adulthood of the children of the baby boomers.  Somewhere between Generation X and Generation Y, there’s a Generation FF.  Those who were fortunate to play FFVI during their formative years will forever be inspired by it, and forever demanding of games to live up to the potential of the era.  It continues to inspire artwork, music, and game creation.  It set a high bar, and game developers took a few years to catch up.  Nowadays we nod dismissively at games like this, but we easily forget that it’s been a decade and a half.  They were the pioneers of modern console RPGs, and deserve respect as such.  They were no longer making games, they were making art.  When Mozart’s notes jump off the page and into ballet; when Da Vinci’s paintings transform into cinema; when a game jumps off the TV screen and onto the canvas, we begin to understand that true genius is the ability to influence not only one’s own genre, but adjacent and opposing spaces as well.

The source inspiration

The canvas - Prisonniere - By Orioto

Final Fantasy 6 meant something important to me.  What did it mean to you?  I want to hear your stories.  How did it affect you?  How did it inspire you?  How did it change your view of gaming? And, yes, you can rule 34 it.  Shame on you for thinking of it!

Verdict: Final Fantasy 6 not only defined a genre, but also entered the console gaming scene with impeccable timing.  It inspired, and raised the bar on story telling in video games for the entire industry.  It was a the predecessor to modern interactive story-telling RPGs.  Its place in history is well deserved.

Usando firefox, puede descargarse música del sitio Goear.com, de una forma sumamente sencilla. Lo único que se necesita son tres cosas:

1. Tener instalado Firefox (FF). Si no lo tienes instalado puedes descargarlo desde la página de mozilla y es gratuito.
2. Instalar una extensión o complemento para FF que se llama GreaseMonkey, y después REINICIAR firefox para que se active el complemento. Cabe señalar que greasemonkey no es un programa extra, solo una especie de modulo para que FF funcione como nosotros queremos.
3. Instalar el script GoearDownload para Greasemonkey. Este script solo ayuda a greasemonkey a activar el link para descargar la musica de goear.com. Hay que darle click en el botón “install” de color verde que aparece en la parte superior derecha de la página (a la derecha de la cara de chucky)

Después de estos tres sencillos pasos puedes entrar en Goear, eliges tu canción (yo te pongo aqui una por si quieres probar), das click en el botón de descargar/download y listo, tienes tu canción perdida.

Recuerda dar click en el botón de descarga una vez que tengas la canción que quieres 100% cargada, si no la tienes cargada totalmente podrías llevarte una desagradable sorpresa al tener el archivo incompleto al final.

Firefox 3.x has introduced a ‘feature’, as they call it , but is a major annoyance for any sysadmin and developer . Firefox block access to ports other than 80. We thought IE was the only browser that was brain-dead that way, but Firefox has proved us wrong. Anyhow, here’s a simple procedure to get around this:

1) go to about:config in the Firefox address bar

2) right click, choose new->string

3) enter the name network.security.ports.banned.override and the value 1-65535

Setima parte.

Quando eles entram no navio notam que a terra começa a tremer e um grande pedaço de terra começa a voar, como uma ilha. Lá fica Kefka e o Imperador, com as estatuas que representem os seres humanos e espers. Então o grupo decide que é necessário ir até a ilha voadora e derrotar Kefka e o Imperador Gestahl.

Nota do Autor: “Meu amigo, essa ilha é pau dimais, eu apanhei feito pano sujo. Felizmente pude ficar na ilha upando alguns níveis para dar cabo do chefe dessa birosca.”

Para ir á ilha, tinha que escolher apenas 3 personagens, escolhi: Celes, Edgard e Sabin.

Ao chegar à ilha, encontram Shadow desacordado, depois ser acordado Shadow explica que foi vendido para o Império e que não deveria estar com eles, mas mesmo assim resolve ajudá-los.

Um monstro chamado Atma Weapon é o guardião dessa ilha, depois de uma batalha difícil Shadow se separa da equipe e eles continuam e encontram Kefka e Gestahl junto a estatuas.  Logo Gestahl usando seu poder prende Edgard e Sabin, Kefka oferece uma oportunidade para Celes voltar para o grupo dando-lhe uma espada ela se prepara para finalizar Sabin, mas ela se torna e desfere um golpe em Kefka.

Kefka corre sangrando até as estatuas e pede por poder. Gestahl preocupado pede para Kefka não fazer tal besteira e o ataca usando magias. Mas Gestahl não entende o porquê suas magias não atingem Kefka, Kefka explica que por estar perto das estatuas elas absorvem as magias usadas perto delas.

Kefka pede para que as estatuas mostrem seu poder finalizando o imperador. Com alguns raios o Imperador é atingido e é jogado para fora da ilha. Kefka louco por tanto poder move as estatuas que mantêm o equilíbrio nos mundos.  Mas Shadow aparece novamente e impede de Kefka matar Celes e o resto da equipe.  Enquanto que Shadow prende Kefka, pede para os outros fugirem da ilha. Quando eles chegam ao navio, as estatuas sofrem uma reação que afeta todo o mundo, mudando-o completamente.

Apocalipse é pouco para descrever essa mudança, durante ela o navio é destruído e todos se separam. Depois de um ano Celes acorda e Cid estava cuidando dela esse tempo todo.

Nota do Autor: “KCT DOIDO UM AAAAAAAAAAAANO, Ahhhh estou ficando doido.”

Cid explica para Celes o que aconteceu. Sobre a queda do navio que durante um ano ele não encontrou com mais ninguém, pois estava numa ilha deserta.  Cid fala que ela seria a única coisa que poderia ser chamada de família para ele. Então ele pede para ela chamá-lo de vovô. Á alguns dias Cid ficou doente e Celes fala que ira pegar peixes para comer. Mas depois de dois dias Cid morre da doença.

Nota do Autor: “CARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI DOIDO!”

Com mais essa noticia de seus amigos mortos Celes entra em colapso e pula de um precipício caindo direto no mar. Mas ela acorda na praia com um pássaro com uma bandana presa em sua asa. Logo Celes acha que Locke ainda está vivo e vai pra casa.

Ao chegar, Celes encontra uma carta de Cid, falando que num quarto escondido tem uma maneira de sair da ilha, lá ela encontra uma jangada e vai pro mar.

Nota do Autor: “Cara, fortes emoções, parei de jogar, continuo amanhã! Esqueci novamente de tirar prints e prometo não esquecer denovo!”

Primeiro dou uma olhada na apresentação, uma musica que já mostra que a coisa esta preta.  Durante fala sobre o cenário atual da historia, fala sobre o mundo que a magia foi trocada por tecnologia e que poucos usam magias.

Bem, pilotando uns “mechs” vão dois soldados e uma feiticeira escrava deles, para uma cidade chamada à procura de um Esper.  Durante a caminhada é mostrado os créditos do jogo e toca uma musica massinha!

Bem, o jogo começou de verdade agora, a garota e os dois soldados estão na cidade. Logo na primeira entrada aparecem alguns guardas para a primeira luta que é muito fácil, os robôs facilitam muito a vida dos noobs.

Lá vem os bixo...

O jogo já está mostrando que as lutas mudam uma das batalhas iniciais o grupo é cercado e já é um modo diferente de combate… Ok, agora eu notei que a garota está sem nome. Primeiro chefe bem simples, sem afobação todo mundo consegue matar. =D

Logo depois eles encontram o Esper, que mais parece um dragão/galinha preso no gelo. Esse bicho faz os soldados desaparecerem, soltou uns raios e no outro dia, aparece a garota na casa de um desconhecido, chegam os tretas e ela sai pelos fundos… Da casa. Então a foragida no meio da fuga cai num buraco e pela queda tem um sonho sobre um Kefka que faz usar a coroa que escraviza ela.

O desconhecido que cuidou de Terra (o nome da garota é esse mesmo) pede para Locke, um ladrão que prefere ser chamado de caçador de tesouros, para ajudá-la. Ao chegar encontra Terra desacordada e com um exercito atrás dela, com a ajuda de uns bichos chamados Moongose ele os detém.

Como a cidade está cheio dos homi, Locke sugere que corram para o castelo de Fígaro, no deserto.

Obs.: O mapa mundo, todo jogo de RPG tem que ter um. =]

Obs.: O mapa mundi, todo RPG que se preze tem um.

Chegando ao castelo, eles falam com o rei Edgard que parece ser um galanteador, e logo são liberados para explorar os estabelecimentos.  Lá Terra encontra uma matrona que explica que Edgard tem um irmão gêmeo que desistiu do trono por sua liberdade.

Kefka um oficial do Império faz uma visita ao castelo de Fígaro procurando a garota, como Edgard finge que não sabe de nada, Kefka começa um ataque ao castelo. Mas o castelo de Fígaro submerge nas areias do deserto enquanto seu rei, Locke e Terra fogem montados em chocobos.

Na fuga entra em um combate, e ao usar uma magia, Locke e Edgard ficam impressionados com o que a garota pode fazer. Mas deixando isso de lado, eles vão para a cidade de Fígaro d sul.

Chegando lá… Parei de jogar! Kkk

Espero que estejam gostando, amanhã posto mais.

16/05/09 – 10:15-12:00

In an effort to stay on topic once in awhile and not bore you with reviews or summaries of my favorite martial art movies – more on the way if you’re looking forward to it, if not you’ve been warned – here are my short term goals.

Enjoy Myself
Hard to believe but after the tournament I gained two kilos in about a week. It’s usually really hard for me to pack on the weight so I’m surprised. Also since my evenings are free now that I’m not going to practice I’m going spend them playing Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS, watching DVDs, studying even more Japanese, brushing up on my photography skills – now that I have a camera that I can really mess with the settings – and snacking a lot. My favorite snacks now are apples and monterey jack cheese, yaki tori, and Tim Tams with milk.

Strength and Flexibilty
When my knee does get all healed up and better, I’m not setting foot on the mat until two things happen:

1) I can do one leg pistol on my right leg
2) I have the same level of flexibility in both legs

When I meet those two requirements I’m gonna train balls out crazy – whatever that expression means. Everyone had better watch out when I get back.

In the meantime, I’ll be happily snacking and figuring out what job to place my FFIII characters in when I’m entering the underwater hidden temple.

My novelization/rewrite of the classic video game Final Fantasy VI continues.  In the previous chapters, we met a mysterious girl who was rescued from her Imperial overlords by a kindly old man, only to be pursued again into the mines, where she fell into darkness.

In chapter 2, a new character comes to her aid.

Note: Knowledge of the game is not a prerequisite to reading this story.  I am writing it to be self-contained as it is.

Chapter 2 – Savior

The door rattled against its hinges as the soldiers pounded against it.

“Alright, alright!” Arvis snapped as he stomped over to the front door, trying to hide his apprehension for Terra.  “I’m coming!”  He donned a scowl as he flung the door open.

Before Arvis could speak, the uniformed soldier standing outside snapped, “Where is the girl and the Magitech armour?”

Arvis narrowed his eyes.  “What in blazes are you talking about?”

The soldier pushed against the door, trying to force his way inside.  “Don’t play games with me, old man!  People saw you bringing the girl back from the mines.  You must hand her over, by order of the Emperor.”

Arvis leaned his weight against the door, throwing the soldier back outside, and very real hatred laced his feigned innocence.  “Last I checked, Narshe was a free town.  Your emperor’s orders hold no sway here.”

The soldier growled, “Listen, you…”

Suddenly, a voice cried outside, “She’s up there!”

Arvis tensed as the soldier turned to gaze after the voice.  The soldier shot him one last glare.  “Your time will come, old man.”  Turning, he began thumping down the stairs back towards the street.

“Get lost, you mindless grunt!” Arvis barked back at the soldier and slammed the door shut.  He let out a sigh as he turned and strode back into the living room.  As he looked up, he started and yelped, lunging backwards in alarm.

The man perched atop his credenza grinned.  “You need better locks on these windows.”

Hand held over his racing heart, Arvis muttered, “Apparently.”  He straightened, catching his breath.  “Though I don’t suppose much would keep you out, Locke.”  Locke grinned as he hopped down from the credenza, stretching out his lithe body and running a hand through his silvery hair.  “And how goes the robbing and plundering trade?”

An annoyed look crossed the younger man’s face.  “I prefer the term ‘treasure hunting.’”

Arvis snorted.  “Right, you just hunt other people’s treasures.”

Locke grinned once more.  “Hey, I can’t be blamed if they don’t care enough to safeguard their treasures properly.”  Arvis rolled his eyes as he crossed the room to the fireplace and threw on another log.  “So, what was so important?  You don’t normally shell out the coin for a telegram.”

Arvis’s shoulders eased as he thought back to the mysterious girl from the mines.  Her snowy complexion, the troubled look in her eyes… and the disturbing stories told by those who had found her.  He leaned his head back as he rose.

“There’s a girl I’d like you to meet.  She’s new in town.”

As he turned, he noticed that his meaning was not lost on the thief.  The smile faded completely from Locke’s face and a dark look touched his eyes.  “Funny, I heard some pretty wild rumours about a girl coming up this way.  An Imperial soldier more dangerous than General Kefka.”

Arvis raised an eyebrow.  “Now, that is wild.”

Locke frowned.  “True, but you’d be surprised how often I heard it.”

Arvis gazed thoughtfully into the flames of the hearth.  He had hoped that Locke would feel for the girl’s plight and be quick to help her.  Although, he supposed that Locke had lost much due to the Empire.

Arvis nodded towards a bookshelf across the room.  “Look on the shelf there.”  He kept his eyes on the fire, but heard Locke’s hesitant footfalls cross the room.  “Do you know what that is?”  The sound of iron scraping wood rang out as Locke lifted the harsh headband Terra had worn.  “I didn’t, either, and it took me some work to figure it out.  It’s one of the Empire’s latest inventions, a device that, when worn, makes the wearer completely incapable of conscious thought.  It’s called a Slave Crown.”

Arvis turned to face Locke, who held the slave crown away from his body as though diseased, a disturbed look etched into his smooth features.  “This girl had no idea what she was doing.  She’s lost and confused, and imagine what she can do for us… even if the rumours are true.”

Locke frowned as he replaced the slave crown on the shelf, clearly eager to take his hands off it.  “Are you sure you’d want someone like that for an ally?”  Arvis could hear the uncertainty in Locke’s voice.

“She’s eighteen years old, Locke.  She doesn’t deserve this.”

Locke closed his eyes for a long moment.  “Alright.  Where is she?”

Arvis nodded towards the back door.  “I sent her off into the mines when the soldiers started sniffing around here.  You’d better hurry, they won’t be far behind.”  Locke nodded and strode through the living room toward the back door.

Arvis sighed as the thief stepped outside and shut the door after him, the blast of cold air outside stirring the hearth fire.  “And good luck.”

**

Locke listened carefully as he crept through the mines, occasionally darting into a dark cove to avoid detection.  He frowned as realized he risked his life to save an Imperial soldier.  If what Arvis had said was true, however… His blood boiled at the thought of the Empire enslaving a teenage girl to do their bidding.  Dangerous or no, the old man was right.  No one deserved that.

At last, he found the bend in the passage where a section of the floor had recently broken away.  Leaning over the gap, he found the girl lying below, eyes closed, unmoving.  Sliding his hands down the edges of the hole, he dropped down, grunting as he hit the ground in a roll.  He paused as he gazed at her.  She had an ethereal, almost otherworldly beauty about her, eternal and childlike at once.

Slowly, he crawled forward, wondering what lay inside this girl.  Arvis had seen something worth saving in her, but looking down at her, Locke could just as easily see withering hatred as uncertain frailty.

Suddenly, shuffling noises emanated down the winding passage ahead of him.  He stole over to the edge of the chamber and glanced ahead.  A large number of Imperial soldiers gathered at the base of the stairs before the twisting paths.  He could faintly hear the captain’s voice as he issued commands to the others.

“She’s got to be down here somewhere.  Fan out and check every passage.”

Locke scowled.  “Wonderful.  Now what?”

As though in response, a noise flowed out from the next chamber behind him.  He spun around and his eyes widened.

A stream of strange, waist-high creatures bounded out through the opening at the far end of the chamber.  Their white, chubby, furry bodies bobbed as they strode in on short legs, stubby arms swaying with their gait.  Miniature webbed wings flapped behind them in time with the sway of their short tails, and a pinkish orb suspended above their heads bobbed as they moved.

Locke blinked.  “Moogles?”  He had never seen so many of the creatures at once.

Two of the moogles bent over the girl, large, glassy eyes examining her.  Another bobbled up to him and lifted its arm, holding its hand against its head in a salute.

Locke blinked again.  Only then did he notice that some of the moogles wore belts strapped with swords or daggers, and some carried short spears or chakrams.  All of the moogles were armed.  He glanced at the creatures hovering around the girl, tilting her face back and forth as they looked over her.

“You… want to help me?”

The moogle standing before him slapped its arm down against its side, gazing up at him with a friendly look.  “Kupo!”

Locke had to chuckle at the absurdity of it all, but quickly sobered as he glanced over his shoulder down the passage where he could hear the Imperial soldiers approaching.  “Well, if you can hold your own against these guards, I’ll owe you one.”  At a sudden shuffling sound, he turned, only to find the moogles arranged into three neat groups.  They all gripped their weapons with looks of determination on their fuzzy faces.  Locke smiled, strangely comforted by their dedication and selflessness.

“Alright.”  The moogles followed softly as he crept toward the passages.  He pointed toward a group of four moogles.  “You take this passage and keep those soldiers from getting closer to her.”  The moogles saluted swiftly as Locke turned to the other group of four.  “You take this passage.”  He turned to the group of three moogles standing directly behind him.  “You three, come with me.  We’re going for the captain.”  The moogles clutched their weapons and nodded.

Drawing his dirk, Locke glanced down the most direct passage to the stairs up to the higher level.  In the flickering torchlight illuminating the mine, he could just make out groups of guards making their way toward him.  He frowned at the odds.

“Well, I’m stuck with it now,” he muttered to himself.  Gesturing at the moogles accompanying him, he stole down the corridor, keeping his footfalls as quiet as possible.  In the close rocky passages, every small noise rang out, but the lumbering gaits of the soldiers drowned out his own boots and the padded feet of the moogles.  Soon, he came upon the first group of soldiers.

One of them spotted him, too late.  “What the…”

Locke drove his dirk into the soldier’s gut, silencing the man’s outburst as the moogles burst forth and fell upon the other soldiers.  Locke yanked his blade back, hardly glancing at the soldier collapsing to the floor.  He had long lost all sympathy for tools of the Empire.  Diving between a pair of moogles, he charged another soldier trying to join the fray.  In the distance, he could hear the shouts and scuffles of the other groups of moogles fighting back the rest of the soldiers.

Though the next soldier had time to draw his weapon, he was clearly inexperienced with the blade, and Locke soon slapped aside a clumsy swing and brought down the soldier.  He glanced around, finding the moogles victorious over the rest of the soldiers in the group.  Buoyed by their success, he continued down the passage, crouching low and staying in the shadows as they approached a second group of soldiers.  Through their shifting bodies, he could see the captain waiting anxiously at the base of the stairs.

As Locke fell into an aura of torchlight, one of the soldiers ahead cried out, “Hold it right there!”  The other soldiers shouted protests and Locke lunged to the side as the soldier raised a musket and fired.  The explosion roared through the cavern, the flare of light from the muzzle lingering in Locke’s vision as the round bullet ripped through the air just beside him.  One of the moogles behind him let out a cry as the soldiers erupted into chaos.  Not waiting for another to find his gun, Locke charged.

He surprised one soldier before he could raise his sword, but the others closed in fast around him.  Locke backed away as he struggled to repel all the blows converging on him.

With a shriek unlike anything Locke had heard, a moogle fell upon one of his attackers, and the distraction was enough for him to take down another soldier.  The other two moogles, one of them with a heavily bleeding arm hanging limp at its side, soon joined the fray.  Jumping and darting around, Locke and the moogles soon dispatched the remaining soldiers.

As he glanced up, he sighted the captain, standing still and dark with sword drawn at the base of the stairs, ignoring the frenzy rocking the cavern.  Locke rose slowly, panting from his battle with the soldiers.  The captain stood poised, glaring evenly at him.  He would not be as easy to fell as the soldiers beneath him.

Gripping his dirk tightly, Locke charged forward, the moogles fanning out behind him.  The captain dodged his first attack so swiftly, Locke didn’t see the incoming blow until he heard a crash of metal beside his head.  He gasped as he spun, finding the captain’s sword held inches away from his face by the spear of one of the moogles.  Locke pivoted to swing again as another of the moogles drew in, swinging a morning star.  The captain darted away before either blow could land, but not before the third moogle slashed at the back of his leg with a set of wrist-mounted claws.  Locke charged as the captain cried out, but the soldier kicked away the clawed moogle and parried Locke’s blow.

Slowly, the sounds of the cavern diminished until only the clashes of Locke and the moogles grappling with the captain filled the still air.  The captain suffered more wounds, but managed to hold his ground against Locke and the three moogles and inflict injuries upon them.

Then, as Locke and the moogles faced the captain with weapons held at the ready, the other moogles began streaming out from the other passages, wounded but whole.  Locke grinned as the captain’s expression faltered.  Fanning out, the moogles walled in the captain.  The older soldier’s eyes darted back and forth between the blood-stained weapons held out.

The moogle with a spear, standing beside Locke, leaned forward.  “Kupo?”

Locke grinned and lowered his dirk.  “Go ahead.”

The captain cried out as the moogles all charged at once.  His voice was silenced within seconds.  Sighing wearily, Locke cleaned and sheathed his dirk, then retreated back through the nearest passage to where the girl still lay unconscious.  The moogles shuffled behind him, some limping, as they returned to the deeper cavern from whence they came.

“Thanks, moogles!” Locke stated before they disappeared.  “We’re in your debt.”

The last moogle turned to smile and wave back at him.  “Kupo!”

Gathering the girl into his arms, Locke stood and strode quickly out of the chamber and through the mines, ignoring the wounds he received from fighting the soldiers.  Some of the moogles had to be supported as they left, yet none of them seemed regretful that they had helped Locke.  He gazed down at the stony face of the girl in his arms.  Who was she?

Time seemed to stand still as he made his way through the dark and silent mines, always watchful for more soldiers.  At least most of the ones pursuing her had likely gone down into the chamber where she’d fallen, but more might yet be waiting.  The girl hung impassively in his arms, as mysterious as ever.  He wished he hadn’t left Arvis’s house so quickly.  He didn’t even know the girl’s name.

At last, following the mine cart tracks, he reached the end of the mine.  The tracks led out through a closed-off entrance and thin streams of pale light crept through the weathered metal doors to illuminate a switch opposite the entrance.  Locke laid the girl out gently on the ground, moaning softly as he pulled his arms back.  She was so light that he hadn’t realized how carrying her had strained his arms.  He didn’t even know how long he had wandered through the mines with her weight added to his.

Rising, he strode over to the switch and threw it.  Metal groaned and the doors swung slowly open, pale afternoon light and drifts of snow swirling in.  Locke shivered from the blast of cold air and shaded his eyes.

Only when the doors stopped moving did he hear the girl’s voice.

Turning with a start, he found her shifting and moaning.  He strode over to her, tensing at the person he was about to meet.  Slowly, she opened her eyes, and she blinked blearily as she gazed up at him.  He hesitated, uncertain what to say, and decided on humor.

“Hey,” he stated.  “You back with us now?”

She blinked several times as she gazed at him, green eyes shining in the light streaming through the open doors.  Curiously, she glanced around before her gaze returned to him.  “You… saved me?”

He grinned wryly.  “Save your thanks for the moogles.  I wouldn’t have gotten far if they hadn’t stepped in.”

“Moogles?”

Locke shook his head.  “Never mind.  I’ll explain later.  Right now, we should get out of here.”  He rose and offered his hand.  She paused, then reached up and took his hand, allowing him to help her up.  A moment of silence passed as she stood before him, and he chastised himself for his earlier apprehension.  He could see nothing but fear, worry, and innocence in her eyes.  The Empire had used her, as though she was nothing more than one of their Magitech armours.  And she looked so young.

She was the first to break the silence.  “Where are we going?”

Locke pulled his hand back.  “South, to Figaro.  The king will know what to do.”  She nodded, though no understanding lit in her eyes, and she looked lost as ever.  Heart wrenching at the sight, he laid a hand on her shoulder.  “Don’t worry.  You’re safe with me.  I give you my word.”

For the first time since he met her, she smiled, softly and hesitantly, but it smoothed out her features to a marble cast.  “Thank you.”

He smiled genuinely in return, warmed and invigorated by his new quest.  He held out his hand again.  “My name is Locke Cole.”

She grasped his hand, fingers delicate and snowy against his skin.  “Terra Branford.”

Locke nodded in acknowledgement.  “You okay to travel?  It’s a few days to Figaro.”  She nodded.

“Alright, then.  Let’s go.”

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Ünlü istatistik firması olan statcounter‘in verilerine göre Firefox 3 , % 35.09 pazar payı ile Avrupa’nın en popüler tarayıcısı konumunda olduğu belirtiliyor.İkinci sırayı % 34.51 pazar payı ile İnternet Explorer 7 alıyor.

Safari 4 | Sviluppato da Apple Corporation
Screenshot | 1 | 2 | 3 | Download (Versione beta) (disponibile per Windows XP, Vista e MacOS) | Sito web ufficiale

Il browser di casa Apple è tra i migliori in termini di rendering, velocità e performance. Quando gli ingegneri di Cupertino implementeranno una piattaforma di estensioni che sappia competere con quella di Firefox, unitamente alla disponibilità (dalla versione 3) per Windows, Safari potrà decollare oltre il 6% del mercato attuale ed essere apprezzato come uno dei migliori in assoluto.

La prima impressione, all’avvio è di aver aperto per errore Chrome. Una grafica molto semplificata e stravolta ricorda (in ambiente Windows) molto il browser made in Google. Due soli menù principali, le tab sopra i preferiti, la funzione TopSites (vedi lo screenshot 2). Tutto ricorda Chrome. Curiosa e sfiziosa la nuova funzionalità CoverFlow (vedi lo screenshot 3) in cui è possibile sfogliare la cronologia, i siti più visitati e i preferiti con un bellissimo effetto tridimensionale. In più la cronologia ora è completamente indicizzata, come in Firefox, e risulta facile cercare quei siti visitati in precedenza. Infine l’aspetto più importante, è stato implementato il nuovo motore di rendering Nitro che presenta miglioramenti visibili nell’esecuzione di javaScript e nel caricamento delle pagine. Come se non bastasse è il primo browser ad ottenere 100/100 all’Acid3 Test.

Tante sono le piccole migliorie che rendono Safari un ottimo browser. Dalla correzione del rendering dei font (che ora appaiono normali e non schiacciati come nella versione 3), all’ottimizzazione dello zoom di pagina, dalla possibilità di caricare i feed nella barra dei preferiti, alla corretta gestione della stampa.

Provandolo su Windows sono rimasto positivamente colpito da Safari, che non ha nulla di meno dei propri concorrenti. Rispetto a Firefox ha la pesante lacuna dei componenti aggiuntivi, e la mancanza di una versione per Linux, che potrebbe essere un florido campo di sviluppo. Quando questi difetti verranno meno, Safari potrà giustamente essere incoronato il miglior browser in assoluto.

Download di SAFARI 4 (versione beta) (disponibile per Windows XP, Vista e MacOS)

Gli altri browser, sul Markus Blog:
«Windows Internet Explorer 8», 23 Marzo 2009
«Google Chrome 2», 26 Marzo 2009
«Mozilla Firefox 3.5», 30 Marzo 2009
«Opera 10», 7 Aprile 2009

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Mozilla Firefox 3.5 | Sviluppato da Mozilla Foundation
Download (Versione beta) (disponibile per Windows, Linux e MacOS) | Sito web ufficiale

La nuova versione di Firefox, che precedentemente avrebbe dovuto portare il numero 3.1, ha avuto, ha tuttora e probabilmente avrà una vita travagliata fino all’incerta data di debutto. In ritardo di parecchi mesi sull’originale tabella di marcia, prevede la pubblicazione – il 14 Aprile – di una quarta Beta (la prima a portare la nomenclatura 3.5), di – almeno – una Release Candidate e, chissà quando, la versione definitiva. Un ritardo causato dalla lentezza dello sviluppo del nuovo motore javaScripts TraceMonkey, nato dall’inadeguatezza del precedente motore nei confronti del V8 di Chrome e dai nuovi (e ottimi) Nitro e Presto, rispettivamente di casa Safari e Opera. Nuovo motore che promette prestazioni competitive.

Firefox 3.5 non contiene solamente miglioramenti sotto il cofano, ma anche lo sviluppo di nuove funzionalità, tra cui:

• Introdotta la Navigazione anonima, come già da tempo fatto da tutti i concorrenti.
• Introdotto il supporto nativo a JSON.
• Migliorato il motore di rendering Gecko.
• Introdotto il supporto per le nuove tecnologie web, come i tag <video> e <audio>, le API per la Geolocalizzazione, i selettori query JavaScript, gli standard CSS 2.1 e 3.
• Tab searching, funzionalità che consentirà all’utente di poter effettuare ricerche testuali non solo sulla pagina corrente ma su tutte le schede aperte.
• La pagina about:me, mostrerà in maniera più sistematica le User Preference e consentirà di gestire nuovi aspetti del browser.

Forte dell’immobilismo dell’utente medio e della propria posizione di mercato (con una fetta del 27%, il primo browser dopo IE), Firefox rimarrà ancora a lungo il browser anti-Microsoft, anche se le versioni presentate in questi mesi mostrano un ritardo di Firefox nei confronti dei propri concorrenti. Dalla versione 2 in poi, l’unico motivo per rimanere col Panda rosso è la sua inimitabile e formidabile piattaforma di estensioni, unico campo in cui Mozilla può primeggiare senza rivali. Una fonte inesauribile di add-ons che permette di rendere il proprio browser unico, con un potenziale di personalizzazione infinito. Per il resto i nuovi Safari, Opera e Chrome appaiono, senza dubbi, superiori in tutto. E lo saranno certamente quando competeranno ad armi pari anche nel campo delle estensioni.

Download di FIREFOX 3.5 (versione Beta) (disponibile per Windows, Linux e Mac)

Gli altri browser, sul Markus Blog:
«Windows Internet Explorer 8», 23 Marzo 2009
«Google Chrome 2», 26 Marzo 2009
«Apple Safari 4», 3 Aprile 2009
«Opera 10», 7 Aprile 2009

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Google Chrome 2.0 | Sviluppato da Google Corporation
Download (Versione beta) (disponibile per Windows XP e Vista) | Sito web ufficiale

Dopo soli sei mesi dalla presentazione della prima beta di Chrome, il browser web open-source sviluppato da Google che ad oggi non ha ancora incontrato i favori degli utenti, è stata presentata la beta della seconda versione, per ora consigliata ai soli sviluppatori. Sebbene il browser sia parecchio stabile e presenti numerosi punti di eccellenza, sono tanti i motivi per ritardare l’abbandono della concorrenza.

All’avvio Chrome ci appare con una grafica pulita e minimale, caratterizzante di tutti i prodotti Google, si nota la presenza di due soli menù, i tab posizionati nella parte superiore della finestra (sopra persino la barra di navigazione), la mancanza della barra di stato e una pagina iniziale che riporta le miniature dei siti più visitati. L’impatto è positivo e l’esperienza d’uso sorprendente. Il nuovo motore di rendering (capace di ottenere 100/100 nell’Acid3 Test) è veloce il doppio di quello originale, il motore V8 di javaScripts promette performance record e studi pubblicati da più fonti incoronano Chrome come il browser più veloce.

Le caratteristiche più importanti già presenti nella prima versione sono le gestione dei tab come processi a sé stanti, la possibilità di trasformare i tab in finestre indipendenti (caratteristica ripresa anche dai futuri Safari 4 e Firefox 3.5) e una barra degli indirizzi intelligente (simile a quella di Firefox). La prima beta di Chrome 2.0 corregge alcuni bug e implementa nuove funzionalità, quattro sono le principali:

• Full-Screen, permette di eliminare del tutto la già sobria interfaccia di Chrome e di visualizzare le pagine web a pieno schermo.
• Full-page zoom, ha sostituito la classica funzione di ridimensionamento del testo e vi ha aggiunto la capacità di ingrandire o rimpicciolire tutti gli altri contenuti della pagina, incluse le immagini, conservando inalterato il layout.
• Form autofill, finalmente aggiunge anche a Chrome la capacità di salvare il testo inserito dall’utente nelle form, così da velocizzare, ad esempio, la compilazione dei classici moduli di registrazione ai servizi online.
• La compatibilità a Greasemonkey (al momento solo parziale), un’estensione molto nota per Firefox.

Infine è stata aggiunta la possibilità di ordinare i segnalibri per titolo, nuovi modi per ridimensionare le finestre o allinearle a schermo trascinando i tab sul desktop, il supporto all’auto-scroll delle pagine.

Indubbiamente Chrome è un ottimo browser, superiore per performance e velocità, inferiore per caratteristiche e funzionalità. Possiamo certamente giustificarlo considerando la sua giovane età (solo 6 mesi, contro la ormai decennale esperienza dei propri avversari) e valutarne l’adozione solo tra qualche anno. Oltre ad alcune pecche più o meno utili all’utente medio (come la mancanza del supporto ai Feed RSS o l’assenza di una barra di ricerca dedicata) sono principalmente due le cose che ancora mancano a Chrome per rivaleggiare alla pari con i rivali e attirare nuovi utenti: il supporto multipiattaforma (oggi Chrome esiste ufficialmente per Windows XP e Vista, le versioni per Linux e MacOS dovrebbero arrivare solo per la fine del primo semestre del 2009) e le estensioni. Questo secondo aspetto è stata la principale causa del successo di Firefox e difficilmente Chrome potrà guadagnare fette consistenti di mercato senza una libreria di add-ons sufficientemente ampia. In Google sono già al lavoro per colmare anche questa mancanza, vedremo.

Download GOOGLE CHROME 2 (versione beta) (disponibile per Windows XP e Vista)

Gli altri browser, sul Markus Blog:
«Windows Internet Explorer 8», 23 Marzo 2009 
«Mozilla Firefox 3.5», 30 Marzo 2009
«Apple Safari 4», 3 Aprile 2009
«Opera 10», 7 Aprile 2009

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La scorsa settimana, dopo tre anni dalla presentazione di Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft ha presentato la nuova versione (numero del proprio browser. Gli sforzi per migliorarlo sono effettivamente visibili, sia in termini di velocità sia di nuove funzioni. Solo ora potremmo dire senza ripensamenti che IE è arrivato ai livelli della concorrenza. Con l’ingresso nell’arena di Google e di Apple, che con la versione per Windows tenta di ampliare il proprio mercato ora rilegato ai soli Mac, sono al momento cinque i protagonisti di questa seconda guerra dei browser, che in qualsiasi modo andrà a finire porterà solo vantaggi incalcolabili all’utente finale e alla sua esperienza di navigazione. A partire da questo post presenterò brevemente le cinque nuove (e future) versioni dei browser che accompagneranno il web nei prossimi mesi.

Internet Explorer 8 | Sviluppato da Microsoft Corporation
Screenshot | 1 | 2 | 3 | Download (disponibile per Windows XP e Vista) | Sito web ufficiale

Il nuovo IE è graficamente identico al suo predecessore, con pochi e pratici ritocchi alla propria skin. Questo aspetto favorirà il passaggio da chi oggi ha e usa IE7. Per il resto sono soprattutto due le nuove funzionalità che potranno attirare nuovi utenti.

• Gli Acceleratori (vedi lo screenshot 2), una funzionalità che permette di minimizzare le operazioni di copia-e-incolla da un sito all’altro. Ad esempio, è possibile evidenziare un indirizzo e – grazie all’Acceleratore – cercarlo senza altre operazioni su GoogleMaps.
• Le WebSlice (vedi lo screenshot 3), una funzione che estende il concetto di Feed RSS e lo applica a porzioni di pagine. Ad esempio, è possibile sottoscriversi ad una WebSlice di un articolo su eBay e controllare l’andamento della vendita senza aprire la pagina.

Ma le novità non finisco qui.

• La Barra dei preferiti, ora più potente e versatile, in grado di ospitare anche Feed RSS e WebSlice.
• La Casella di ricerca è stata potenziata, includendo suggerimenti sulle parole cercate e l’occorrenza nella cronologia. Funzionalità non nuova agli utenti di Firefox.
• Introdotto il filtro SmartScreen, potenziamento del filtro Antiphishing, che a detta di Microsoft è il più veloce e sicuro presente sul mercato. Protegge dal phishing, dall’installazione di malware e software dannoso.
• La funzionalità InPrivate Browsing, permette di non salvare alcunché sul pc. Evita che la cronologia, i file temporanei di Internet, i dati, i cookie e le combinazioni nome utente/password vengano memorizzati sul computer. Questa funzionalità sarà presente su tutti i concorrenti, tranne forse Opera, ma Microsoft ci tiene a ricordare che IE è stato il primo a pensare ed implementare questa caratteristica.
• L’Automatic Crash Recovery, ovvero il caro vecchio ripristino della sessione già implementato da tempo su diversi altri browser. In caso di crash o blocco del browser (o anche di un singolo tab) permette di riavviare IE8 con tutte le schede e le pagine che erano aperte al momento della chiusura. Sempre in questo campo è importante la scelta di Microsoft di assegnare un processo ad ogni scheda (come accade anche in Google Chrome). In questo modo se la navigazione di un tab si blocca, sarà necessario riavviare solo quello.
• Una Barra di esplorazione rinnovata e più potente, evidenzia il dominio del sito (motivi di sicurezza, dicono a Redmond) e permette di cercare tra i preferiti e la cronologia. Tuttavia la funzionalità non è ben implementata come la Barra degli indirizzi intelligente di Firefox.
• Il raggruppamento colorato delle schede. Ovvero tutte le tab che appartengono ad uno stesso gruppo comune (come lo stesso sito o lo stesso argomento) sono raggruppate visivamente colorando le linguette delle schede. Da più parti questa funzionalità è stata definita brillante e cool. Personalmente l’ho trovata graficamente mal implementata (soprattutto in confronto all’addon Colorful Tabs di Firefox).

Infine, ma non per importanza, il nuovo motore di rendering, più conforme agli standard dei predecessori e sensibilmente più veloce nel rendering della pagina e nell’esecuzione javaScripts. Secondo un documento pubblicato da Microsoft, Internet Explorer 8 è risultato essere il più veloce tra i browser presenti sul mercato. L’effettiva veridicità di questo confronto è tutta da dimostrare, ma all’uso IE8 sorprende per le proprie perfomance. Dall’installazione non è ancora andato in crash, ha supportato bene anche carichi di lavoro onerosi e ha caratterizzato l’uso per velocità mai viste su Internet Explorer.

Nel complesso l’impressione che se ne ha è decisamente positiva, è tutto tranne che un pessimo browser. E’ una valida alternativa, capace di far immediatamente dimenticare i propri predecessori.

Download di INTERNET EXPLORER 8 (disponibile per Windows XP e Vista)

Gli altri browser, sul Markus Blog:
«Google Chrome 2», 26 Marzo 2009
«Mozilla Firefox 3.5», 30 Marzo 2009
«Apple Safari 4», 3 Aprile 2009
«Opera 10», 7 Aprile 2009

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A few months delayed in posting, here is chapter one of my rewrite of the Super Nintendo classic Final Fantasy VI.  In the previous chapter, a mysterious girl with the unique ability to use magic encounters an ancient creature of legend, frozen in time from the war that tore magic away from the world a thousand years ago.

In chapter 1, she awakens.

Chapter 1 – Awakening

Her head pounded as she began to awaken. The world around her was quiet and warm, and it swam dizzingly. Slowly, her stomach settled and vision cleared as she opened her eyes. She lay on a small bed in a simple room. Outside the window, a breeze swirled snow through the air. Moaning, she sat up and clutched her head, the blankets slipping down off her body and exposing the short, patterned red dress she wore.

A door opened. Looking up, she found a middle-aged man standing at the entrance to the room. He smiled at her.

“Where am I?” she stated before he could speak.

“You’re safe for now,” he answered patiently. She swung her legs off the bed, clenching her teeth against the fading pain in her head.

“What happened?” She shook her head. “I can’t remember anything.”

The man nodded slowly. “That’s understandable, considering what happened.”

“No,” she stated distractedly. “I don’t remember anything at all.” She tried to wrack her mind for some memory to cling to, but it was as if she had never lived before this day.

The man’s arms fell slowly as his eyes widened. “Oh. I see.” He smiled once more. “Well, don’t worry. It’ll come back to you, in time.”

“Terra,” she stated, the word coming subconsciously to her lips. She turned the name over in her head, recognizing it immediately. “My name is Terra Branford.”

The man shifted, and she looked up to find his smile warmer. “It’s nice to meet you, Terra. My name is Arvis.”

She glanced up at him. “You… helped me?”

Arvis nodded. “No one deserves to be left out in the cold. Besides, you didn’t seem like the Imperial soldier type.”

Terra’s brow furrowed. “Imperial?” The word tickled her mind, a shadow as faint and fleeting as the flap of a butterfly wing.

He shook his head. “Never mind. Why don’t you come into the living room? The boiler heat doesn’t distribute very well. I have a fire going.” He turned to walk out of the room. Stepping into her boots, Terra stood. She paused and glanced out the window. Snow was falling outside. She stared hard at the falling flakes, feeling something vaguely familiar about the sight, but nothing stirred. Shaking her head, she followed the older man out of the room.

Arvis smiled as she entered the living room, his form glowing from the flickering light of a hearth fire. As she approached him, she turned her head to gaze at the flames. A strange shape seemed to glow within them. She tilted her head curiously as she examined it.

Suddenly–

Destruction. Ashes and molten embers. Charred husks of machines as flames shoot out of her hands.

She threw herself back with a gasp.

“What is it?” Arvis asked, concerned.

Terra glanced away, hand laid against her temple from a surging headache. “Nothing.”

Arvis cocked his head to the side and took a half-step forward, his voice hesitant. “Do you remember anything about what happened?”

She shook her head. Slowly, she turned to him, considering what he had said and the vision she experienced. “Did I… do something wrong?”

He sighed as he crossed the room to a shelf against the wall. “Whatever you did, I don’t think you meant to do it.” He picked up an item on the shelf and strode over to her. “I found you wearing this.” She examined the object in his hands. It was a headband of iron, simple and harsh. “When I took it off you, life seemed to come back into your eyes.” She reached a hand toward it. “I think it might have something to do with your memory loss, and your actions before then.”

As her fingers brushed the rough iron surface, a wave of energy washed over her, dark and malicious, and in a flash, an image flared in her mind.

Bound to a chair in a tiny metal room, struggling against her bonds, thrashing her head as a figure approaches.

She drew back several paces, shuddering from the hint of memory. Even as it came, it was hazy at best, but the emotions of the memory clung to her. Terror, desperation, isolation, the hopelessness of being utterly trapped.

Arvis only gazed at her worriedly as she rubbed her hand, trying to push away the memory. “I… think you’re right.”

He quickly replaced the headband on the shelf. “Are you hungry?”

She shook her head, not facing him. “I’m alright.” She turned as the floorboards creaked under Arvis’s steps. “What did I do?”

He laid a hand on her shoulder with a soft smile. “Let’s have lunch first.”

**

She awoke to pounding on the front door. She could hear Arvis’s frustrated hiss in the living room. “I knew it was only a matter of time before they came.” Quickly rising, Terra slipped on her boots and approached the doorway.

“Open up! Give us back the girl and the armour!”

Terra blinked. “Armour?” They weren’t talking about a suit of armour, and they weren’t talking about one. How she knew, she couldn’t say.

“Hold on!” Arvis called. “Hold your horses!” Turning, he gestured furiously at Terra. “Go out the back door! The bridge will take you into the mines.”

The pounding against the door persisted. “Open this door, in the name of the Empire!” Terra stood frozen, fear choking her and holding her still.

“Hurry! Get out of here!” Arvis persisted, pushing her in the direction of the back door next to the bedroom where she had been staying. Roused, she ran over to the door.

“Wait!”

Terra paused. Arvis held out a sheathed short sword. “Take this.” Hesitating briefly, Terra grasped the weapon as Arvis called out to the people at the door. She laid a hand on the doorknob, but paused as she glanced back at the older man.

“Thank you.”

He smiled. “Good luck. Now go!”

Nodding, Terra slipped out the door into the frigid air blowing down from the mountain. Creeping along the walkways connecting the upper stories of the houses, she tried to glance down through the grate floor at the people pounding furiously at Arvis’s door. As she peered around the corner of his house, she spotted people in uniform, muskets and swords at their sides. Holding her breath, she continued toward the bridge leading to the distant mines at a crouch. Snowflakes bit coldly at her skin as they fell on her and her breath came out in clouds. She ignored the cold as she crawled onto the bridge. If she could make it across the main street and into the caves beyond, she would be safe.

Suddenly, a voice called out, “She’s up there!”

Gasping, she turned, spying the soldiers on the ground, pointing up at her. Abandoning caution, she threw herself to her feet and raced toward the open mines. Soldiers barked out orders behind her and she could hear the distant pounding of running feet behind the clatter of her own boots on the metal walkway. Soon, her feet fell on stone and she raced into the mine shaft.

She skidded to a hasty stop, pebbles turned up by her boots tumbling down a chasm opening up inside the mountain. She paused, catching her breath. The mine shaft was wide, amply lit with torches lining the walls. Picks and hammers littered the floor and boulders lay against the ground beneath the walls from which they were cut. It was clearly an old mine, as the rails for the mine carts had rusted half to dust.

Catching her breath, Terra continued at a rushed, but cautious pace. The mine closed in around her, trapping her in a timeless world of firelit stone. The squeaks of rats rang through the caves, bats fluttering away as she strode deeper into the mine. She clutched the sword Jarvis had given her like a beacon of strength.

Minutes stretched on as she navigated the winding tunnels of the mine, though it could have been hours. Between the silence and her furiously pounding heart, she had no way to tell how long she strode through the caves. Her mind turned over the events that had passed, but without remembering anything about her life or what she had done, she could discern little. Her stomach growled from hunger and her eyes began to grow heavy.

Then, she turned a corner and saw soldiers emerge from a staircase down the hall. As soon as she saw them, they saw her.

“Got her!”

Turning, she began racing back the way she came, but lurched to a stop after a few paces, as several more soldiers approached down that tunnel. She backed away toward the bend in the corridor, glancing between the groups of soldiers advancing on her. She was trapped. She drew the sword sheathed at her hip with shaking hands, though she knew she didn’t stand a chance against all of them.

As her foot fell on the back corner of the wall, stone crumbled and the floor gave out beneath her. With a shriek, she lost her balance and plummeted through the gap in the floor to a chamber twenty feet below. She cried out as she slammed into the floor, stones crashing down around her. Lights flared in front of her eyes and her head pounded.

Weakly, her senses seeming detached from herself, she rolled over and tried to get to her feet, but her arms gave out and she collapsed, the voices of the soldiers above falling silent as everything grew dark.

Goteking of BenHeck.com forum fame has encased his slim Sony Cyber-Shot camera inside a vintage Famicom cartridge.  It looks svelt, but it is a little sad to see Final Fantasy III gutted.  Word on the streets is he never played it anyways.  Oh well, at least he will have major geek cred when he pulls it out at the annual convention.

[Source]

I had the pleasant experience of having my GPU crap out on my two year old laptop.  Don’t worry though,  I took all the best advance and didn’t get a warranty.   This awesome sequence of events led me to getting a hand me down laptop for school.  This beast has 256 mb of RAM, a 1 Ghz Celeron Processor, and 20 gigs of ram.  I tried putting ubuntu on this laptop and for some reason it wouldn’t install.  I ended up installing windows xp, windows xp actually turned out to work very well and uses very little resources.

I began by first installing all my favorite apps and every thing worked great.  After getting firefox 3 installed, I launched it and started surfing.  My machine started to slow down immediately and became pathetically slow.  I immediately hit the  ctrl-alt-dlt .  The Firefox 3 process was hogging the cpu and crippling my machine.  I tried killing some tabs, but that didn’t help.  Next, I went looking for a new lighter browser.

The first place I went was opera.  Opera’s website claims that opera is a light fast browser that is fully compliant with all browser specs.  Opera was horrible.  Opera used more clock cycles than FireFox 3 and had a lot of compatibility issues with very common websites.  Oddly enough, if you use the newest version of Opera you cannot get to the main myspace page.  You can only get to mobile myspace, weird.  Note: I don’t use myspace, it was my wife that tried.  No seriously you got to believe me.

Next I searched google for the lightest and leanest browsers.  The first one I tried was the off by one browser, this browser is extremely small 1mb, but it only supports html.  This means I couldn’t check my gmail, greader, read some blogs, or use the twit army well.  If you still have text based html only websites you use, this is a great browser, otherwise forget it.  The next browser I tried is called Slim Browser, do not under any circumstance attempt to use this browser.  It is just internet explorer 7 loaded to hilt with spy ware.  It’s only called slim browser to try and get you to download it.  Finally,  I settled down on the Pheonix browser by the mozilla corporation.  If you need a light weight browser that is not fully featured use Pheonix.  Phoenix still does not support a lot of features most users are accustomed to like, tabbed browsing among other things.  It does however do its job very well, it loads web pages quickly and uses very few CPU cycles.  After using this browser for a few minutes I knew I could not live without tabbed browsing.

I decided to give Firefox another try.  I did what I should have done in the first place, I installed the ad-block and script block Firefox extensions.  This made a huge difference.  Most websites plunder you with ad’s and scripts to add functionality, but these will wreak havoc on a slow computer.  After installing these add-ons I noticed a 75% improvement on my system.  So I still had almost all the functionality I needed out of Firefox, but with processing speed leftover to do other things.  Loading webpages still kills my machine but normal browsing is now much easier.  I will be searching for more add-ons to improve performance in the future, and there will definetly be  a follow up.  So, stay tuned for more.

A few screen shots below.

FireFox with no Plugins

Fire Fox with no script and ad-block

Opera Stock

Written by Jon

Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox browser, has released technology that helps websites detect the physical location of computers.

• The system will allow users, for instance, to find local restaurants when they travel to a new town.

• The Geode project is an experimental program ahead of a full blown launch of geolocation technology.

• Users will have control over how much location information they give.

• It uses technology from a firm called Skyhook which works out a computer’s location from nearby wireless networks.

• Its so-called Loki system can determine location within seconds with an accuracy of about 10 to 20 metres.

But when it can trace the physical location of computers, then it can easily trace serious information for hackers and intruders as well, even some random websites now may steal user information very easily if this source code gets leaked.

It is a controversial question that if this issue should be accepted or not that easily by everyday and not so computer savvy users, as it may be a big threat to user privacy.

Final Fantasy VI, released in North America as Final Fantasy III for Super Nintendo, has been one of my favourite video games ever since I first watched my brother play it when I was still in elementary school. I loved the characters – well, most of them – the story and the gameplay, little say the music.

Growing up and revisiting this old favourite, I have since realized that some of the characters are inconsistent at times and other parts of the script could stand to be cleaned up as well.  I still love the game, but, well, it could be improved upon – and what can’t, right?  So, I decided to rewrite FFVI.

The events of the game will still happen, though they may not necessarily happen the same way.  Likely much of the dialogue will be different, at least slightly, and some character interactions will be different, some drastically.  There will be scenes added that were never in the game, primarily for more character interaction that I wish had been in the game.  I can’t say how often I will update this story, as it is far from priority in my endeavors, but it is fun and easy to write – after all, the story’s already there.

As this idea has been on my mind of late and I’ve been revisiting the game script – and more recently the game itself – of course I had to add Final Fantasy VI fanart to the collection I’ve begun drawing in the hopes of getting a convention table:

This is a scene from the beginning of the game, when Locke protects Terra from the Imperial soldiers that come after her.

For those familiar with the game, I hope my novelization/rewrite of FFVI does justice to the game and gives you a fond stroll down memory lane.  For those who aren’t, I hope you enjoy my rendition of this classic and well-loved game, as well.

Now, without further ado, here is Final Fantasy VI: Remix.

Prologue

The mountains towered in the distance, a great hulking mass of jagged peaks cutting across the horizon.  The landscape was stark, snow drifting down from the northern mountains to litter the fields of shriveled, brown grass.  Footprints cut a trail across the frozen wasteland up to an overhanging ledge, each indentation over six feet long.  The two-story war machines stood like barren trees clinging to the cliff edge, blowing snow swirling around their bird-like feet and drifting through the chinks in their heavy iron plating.  The faces of the soldiers seated at the heads of the armoured machines were lined, their gazes hard and faces weathered from the long journey.  They didn’t react as the biting wind stabbed at their faces and whipped their hair about.

“There’s the town,” stated Biggs, nodding westward.

Wedge followed his eyes to a cluster of lights huddling at the base of the mountains against the deepening dusk, the steady, pale yellow glow of electric lamps.  “Hard to believe an esper’s been found intact there after a thousand years.”

Biggs shook his head slowly.  “Do you really think it could still be alive?”

The lines on Wedge’s face deepened.  “Who knows?  It’s not like there are any surviving records from the War of the Magi.  We have no idea what an esper is going to be like.”

Biggs frowned as he glanced over his shoulder.  A third Magitech armour stood between them a few paces back.  A young woman sat at the helm, green eyes staring unseeing ahead as ringlets of emerald hair blew over her face, skin showing hardly more colour than the snow that drifted through the air.  She also showed no reaction to the bitter cold, though her neck and collarbone remained exposed to the elements.

Biggs shot a glance over to Wedge, who had also turned to gaze at the woman.  Their comrades had described the same blank gaze on her face when she single-handedly destroyed dozens of similar armoured units.

“Think it’ll react to her?”

Wedge’s eyes narrowed faintly.  “That’s what we’re here to find out.”  Biggs straightened in his seat, his gaze drifting towards the town once more.  “If the reports are right, this thing’s been trapped in a block of ice for a thousand years.”

“Yeah,” Biggs replied, “but how many times since then has a natural magic user seen it?”  Wedge glanced distractedly off to the side, and Biggs caught a glimpse of the uneasiness he knew his comrade felt.

Casting it off, Wedge raised his head once more.  “Let’s go.”

***

Burn marks scored the streets and buildings around the trail the armoured machines cut through the town.  City guards had long stopped approaching by the time the war machines reached the mines on the far side of town.  The bodies of their brethren, scorched and trampled, lay in the armours’ wake.

At the boarded-up entrance to a mine shaft, Biggs and the young woman watched Wedge standing before them.  He adjusted a lever in his machine’s cockpit, the enormous metal arm reaching forward and pointing at the barricade.  The droning whirr of the armour’s power source grew, the noise rising to a high-pitched roar as light flared out from the palm of the machine’s clawed hand.

Suddenly, the machine rocked as a beam of light shot out of the armour’s outstretched hand.  Thunder filled the mine, the rock walls quaking with the crackle of the beam of energy.  The boulders, boards, and bars blocking their path crumbled underneath the attack, rubble exploding inward as the mine yawned open before them.

The hum of Wedge’s machine faded as its torso sank forward briefly.  After a moment, the armour’s power restored and it stood upright.

“Let’s go.”

Biggs and the young woman fell into step behind Wedge as he ventured into the shadows of the tunnel, dust hanging heavy in the air.  The clangs of their armours’ feet against the floor echoed against the walls, their footsteps ringing throughout the mine.

At last, they came to the end of the tunnel and into a large, open chamber with no other exits.  Ahead, a protrusion of rock rose as high into the air as their armour, crude stairs carved into the stone leading up to the platform.  Wedge froze in place as he glimpsed the form perched atop it.

An iridescent bird lay encased in a jagged block of ice, more strange and wondrous than anything the soldiers had ever seen.  It was larger than a man, with wings spread, talons out, and beak open to cry.  Nothing about the frozen esper moved, yet somehow it seemed more alive than they did.

Slowly, Wedge approached, Biggs and the woman following in his steps.  They paused at the base of the platform, gazing at the esper.  None of them could find words.

Abruptly, the woman moved her machine forward, its clawed feet climbing the stairs toward the frozen creature.

“Hey!” Biggs exclaimed, startled.

“Get back here!” Wedge snapped.  “That’s an order!”

Ignoring him, the young woman continued up the stairs until she stood face to face with the esper.  The blank mask on her face broke, a hint of conflict and uncertainty creeping into her eyes as she stared at the unmoving bird.  The rocks around them seemed to resonate with energy.

Growling in frustration, Wedge turned his armour and began climbing the stairs after the girl.  Halfway up, its foot landed stiffly.  He screamed as machine and pilot dissolved, scattering like ashes on the air.

“Wedge!” Biggs cried, his heart leaping in terror.  He hesitated, gaze flickering between the girl and the exit.

Before he could react, he let out an inhuman howl as he disintigrated with his armour, leaving the woman alone in the cave with the esper.

The girl remained as frozen as the esper, gazing into its dead eyes from the seat of her armour.  She didn’t react as the chamber filled with a cool blue light.  The glow glinted off the beady black eyes of the bird, and the ice encasing it shimmered with energy.  Soon, the warmth of it crept beneath her skin, igniting her flesh with a pale light that matched the bird’s.  The chamber crackled with energy around her, stalactites jostled free from the ceiling crashing into the floor of the mine.

The light and energy intensified, filling her awareness, until she knew nothing else.

Initially when firefox was launched, its website rendering speed was amazing when compared to IE6/7.But over the last few months Apple Safari Browser and Google Chrome did it better.But people still prefer FF cause of its extensions, so ill try to renew and renovate ur FF experience.Although I won dare to dig into Firefox’s rendering engine, here are a few tricks which will increase browsing speed.

Before you get started, Statutory warning: This was intended for Power Users(who noes whats under the hood).But its easy for an average user to fiddle around with proper guidance.And caution caution if you F… UR workstation with this tweak than don send in ur hate mails, and don’t go shouting around. It happens dude sometimes ,its part of learning.

Donno worry and leave now . Its ok to try this settings out it will not blow ur system.Enjoy the new FF experience.

First you need to know that all your setting are saved in FF configuration menu. Now Config menu doesn have any GUI. Its in a form of table containing several parameters. Its like registry in windows(wait FF3 doesn blot) and config.*** in linux.

Here’s what you do:
In the URL bar, type “about:config” and press Enter.
This will bring up the configuration “menu” where you can change the parameters of Firefox.

Note that the following parameter tweaks are what I have found speed up Firefox on my computer, and these settings should work fine for other broadband internet users.

Double Click on the following settings and put in the numbers below – for the true / false booleans – they’ll change when you double click. If you cannot find a particular entry in the list, there is a search bar at the topic of the screen to narrow the list down.

Code:
browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs = true
network.http.max-connections = 48
network.http.max-connections-per-server = 16
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy = 208
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server = 52
network.http.pipelining = true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests = 100
network.http.proxy.pipelining = true
network.http.request.timeout = 300
network.image.ImageBehavior = 0

Now the follwing is the most imp of all and only for broadband users, itll surely increase your rendering speed.

Now right-click somewhere on that screen and click
NEW -> Integer.
Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0”. This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives. Since you’re broadband – it shouldn’t have to wait.

Now you should notice you’re loading pages MUCH faster now!

Ill post more tweasks later, till then all your comments will be much anticipated and appreciated.Wait wait its not over 1 final word, remember remember no hate mails please, you screwed your system i just guided you. Tada.